Hear the word of God:
Ephesians 4
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say,
"When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people."
Notice that it says "he ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
But that isn't what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Blessings,
Jason
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Bearing fruit and growing ...
Hear the word of God:
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.”
Colossians 1:3-6
Our faith is growing and our love is growing for each other. Can you feel that as we worship together, pray together, and serve together? We are going with our boys this weekend to LTC. This is a time to help them understand how to be a leader in God’s Kingdom. Every practice, every time of worship, and every time of service is a time where they watch us and whether we realize it or not, they begin to imitate us. Our own children are like this and our boys are like this. We will be looking at some of your thoughts over the next few days, as we finish up this project, but I just wanted to remind us all that what is in our hearts and how we act on that will overflow out into the lives of all we know and all we meet. We should be praying for each other as we try to shine our light to this world, beginning with our boys.
You are all in my prayers!
Jason
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.”
Colossians 1:3-6
Our faith is growing and our love is growing for each other. Can you feel that as we worship together, pray together, and serve together? We are going with our boys this weekend to LTC. This is a time to help them understand how to be a leader in God’s Kingdom. Every practice, every time of worship, and every time of service is a time where they watch us and whether we realize it or not, they begin to imitate us. Our own children are like this and our boys are like this. We will be looking at some of your thoughts over the next few days, as we finish up this project, but I just wanted to remind us all that what is in our hearts and how we act on that will overflow out into the lives of all we know and all we meet. We should be praying for each other as we try to shine our light to this world, beginning with our boys.
You are all in my prayers!
Jason
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Learning his vocabulary
“I dedicated one whole year to learning how to live with a perpetual openness to Jesus as my present Teacher. I determined to learn his vocabulary: is he addressing me through those singing birds or that sad face? I sought to allow him to move through every action: my fingers while writing, my voice while speaking. My desire was to punctuate each minute with inward whisperings of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. Often I failed for hours, even days at a time. But each time I came back and tried again. That year did many things for me, but it especially heightened my sense of expectancy in public worship. After all, he had graciously spoken to me in dozens of little ways throughout the week; he will certainly speak to me here as well. In addition, I found it increasingly easier to distinguish his voice from the blare of everyday life.
“When more than one or two come into public worship with a holy expectancy, it can change the atmosphere of a room. People who enter harried and distracted are drawn quickly into a sense of the silent Presence. Hearts and minds are lifted upward. The air becomes charged with expectancy.”
Richard Foster
I don’t think that any of us know what to expect when it comes to worship. Sometimes we walk into a worship service and we are already frustrated at the happenings of the day, and then we start getting distracted. You are worried about a relationship, you are upset that the song leader is singing too many songs you don’t know, you are tired, you may fall asleep, you have a problem with the sermon, or the minister, and the list keeps going on. When we focused on worship early on in this spiritual formation process I quoted the above thoughts from Richard Foster. What if we did enter into a worship service with this attitude? What if we entered into every day with this attitude? Can you imagine what would happen?
During one of our devotional experiences we lit candles and prayed and sang songs for close to 45 minutes. I thought that it was an amazing time of drawing nearer to God. So many of you felt the same way as I did and we walked away with such an uplifted spirit.
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
I have personally been thirsting for God ever since that moment. It was a longing, but it was something that even when I had those times of worship, it just left me wanting more. Did you feel that way? It was pure. It was holy. Do we desire more of that? I think we can all say a resounding yes. How can we try and make sure that it happens? We need to start by expecting God to work in the lives of those we work with, those we work for, and those we come in contact with every day. Spend some time in worship today. Take a few minutes and just sing, or put on some Christian music and just sing at the top of your voice. Pray constantly and deeply for those you love. Worship begins right where you are. You do not have to be in a pew on a Sunday morning to experience it. I am expecting things to change in the lives of those who are reading this right now. God, please bless each heart and help them to seek you and praise you with wholehearted devotion. The more we stay in the presence of God, the easier it becomes to see those worship moments every day of our lives.
Start expecting God to move and look around for the change.
Your fellow worshiper,
Jason
“When more than one or two come into public worship with a holy expectancy, it can change the atmosphere of a room. People who enter harried and distracted are drawn quickly into a sense of the silent Presence. Hearts and minds are lifted upward. The air becomes charged with expectancy.”
Richard Foster
I don’t think that any of us know what to expect when it comes to worship. Sometimes we walk into a worship service and we are already frustrated at the happenings of the day, and then we start getting distracted. You are worried about a relationship, you are upset that the song leader is singing too many songs you don’t know, you are tired, you may fall asleep, you have a problem with the sermon, or the minister, and the list keeps going on. When we focused on worship early on in this spiritual formation process I quoted the above thoughts from Richard Foster. What if we did enter into a worship service with this attitude? What if we entered into every day with this attitude? Can you imagine what would happen?
During one of our devotional experiences we lit candles and prayed and sang songs for close to 45 minutes. I thought that it was an amazing time of drawing nearer to God. So many of you felt the same way as I did and we walked away with such an uplifted spirit.
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
I have personally been thirsting for God ever since that moment. It was a longing, but it was something that even when I had those times of worship, it just left me wanting more. Did you feel that way? It was pure. It was holy. Do we desire more of that? I think we can all say a resounding yes. How can we try and make sure that it happens? We need to start by expecting God to work in the lives of those we work with, those we work for, and those we come in contact with every day. Spend some time in worship today. Take a few minutes and just sing, or put on some Christian music and just sing at the top of your voice. Pray constantly and deeply for those you love. Worship begins right where you are. You do not have to be in a pew on a Sunday morning to experience it. I am expecting things to change in the lives of those who are reading this right now. God, please bless each heart and help them to seek you and praise you with wholehearted devotion. The more we stay in the presence of God, the easier it becomes to see those worship moments every day of our lives.
Start expecting God to move and look around for the change.
Your fellow worshiper,
Jason
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Filled to the brim ...
“It is not that you will think about what you have read, but you will feed upon what you have read. Out of a love for the Lord you exert your will to hold your mind quiet before him. In this peaceful state, swallow what you have tasted … take in what is there as nourishment.”
Jeanne Guyon
“I am sitting here after a wonderful meal and I feel so stuffed full of food. I feel like I could not eat another bite. It has become so bad that I have to loosen my belt just so I can breathe, or maybe I loosen my belt so I can make room for more.”
How often have you heard someone say something like this? Usually this happens around holidays where the family is all together with a huge variety of different foods. Ashamedly I have been one of the people who have said this phrase. What if we said that same thing about our spiritual time of study? If you think about it, the same could be true. We just finish a time of digging into the Word and we feel like we are filled to the brim with knowledge and questions all at the same time. The only difference is that we can take more and more bites from this spiritual food. We need to take bigger and bigger bites and sometimes we just need to sit there and chew on them for a while. That is how the study life should be for us all. During one of our class times I mentioned four key words in the life of a Bible Student: Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection.
The more time you spend in study and digging through scriptures, the more you will want to do it again. It becomes addictive. The problem though, is so many of us never take that first step in making the effort to set aside time to be in the Word. The chewing on the Word is so important as well, because sometimes you just need to take one verse and go over it again and again to understand it. After the understanding, you start realizing what it truly means and you apply it to your life. When you can bring yourself into the story or the situation, you have allowed God to open up a whole new world for your spiritual walk.
If your study life seems like it needs a boost, or feels non-existent, then take this moment to say, “Today, I begin again, and I will be with my Lord!” Let me leave you with some words from the Word, that you can chew on today.
"So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins."
Luke 6:46-49
Jason
Jeanne Guyon
“I am sitting here after a wonderful meal and I feel so stuffed full of food. I feel like I could not eat another bite. It has become so bad that I have to loosen my belt just so I can breathe, or maybe I loosen my belt so I can make room for more.”
How often have you heard someone say something like this? Usually this happens around holidays where the family is all together with a huge variety of different foods. Ashamedly I have been one of the people who have said this phrase. What if we said that same thing about our spiritual time of study? If you think about it, the same could be true. We just finish a time of digging into the Word and we feel like we are filled to the brim with knowledge and questions all at the same time. The only difference is that we can take more and more bites from this spiritual food. We need to take bigger and bigger bites and sometimes we just need to sit there and chew on them for a while. That is how the study life should be for us all. During one of our class times I mentioned four key words in the life of a Bible Student: Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection.
The more time you spend in study and digging through scriptures, the more you will want to do it again. It becomes addictive. The problem though, is so many of us never take that first step in making the effort to set aside time to be in the Word. The chewing on the Word is so important as well, because sometimes you just need to take one verse and go over it again and again to understand it. After the understanding, you start realizing what it truly means and you apply it to your life. When you can bring yourself into the story or the situation, you have allowed God to open up a whole new world for your spiritual walk.
If your study life seems like it needs a boost, or feels non-existent, then take this moment to say, “Today, I begin again, and I will be with my Lord!” Let me leave you with some words from the Word, that you can chew on today.
"So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins."
Luke 6:46-49
Jason
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
God's attention deficit children ...
So many of our times together we spend time in prayer. During one of these times, I noticed how difficult it was for so many of us to focus. I could just sense the distractions in so many people. I noticed that the main problem with this prayer exercise was that I didn’t give us all a time to slow ourselves down and focus. I believe that if I had taken the time to allow us all to go off to our secret quiet place, it would have been so much easier to stay focused on praying for those we were praying for. We prayed for our boys and talked about interceding for others. I truly believe that even though we may not be completely on task, God is still hearing the prayers of us, his attention deficit children.
Do you have this problem on a daily basis? This problem where you can’t fully sit and be in God’s presence? Remember to just sit and be with God for a while, and allow his peace to come into your life. I want to leave you with the quote that I mentioned earlier in this spiritual journey.
A Prayer by Henri Nouwen
Why, O Lord, is it so hard for me to keep my heart directed toward you? Why do the many little things I want to do, and the many people I know, keep crowding into my mind, even during the hours I am totally free to be with you and you alone? Why does my mind wander off in so many directions, and why does my heart desire the things that lead me astray? Are you not enough for me? Do I keep doubting your love and care, your mercy and grace? Do I keep wondering, in the center of my being, whether you will give me all I need if I just keep my eyes on you?
Please accept my distractions, my fatigue, my irritation, and my faithless wanderings. You know me more deeply and fully than I know myself. You love me with a greater love than I can love myself. You even offer me more than I can desire. Look at me, see me in all my misery and inner confusion, and let me sense your presence in the midst of my turmoil. All I can do is show myself to you. Yet, I am afraid to do so. I am afraid that you will reject me. But I know--with the knowledge of faith--you desire to give me your love. The only thing you ask of me is not to hide from you, not to run away in despair, not to act as if you were a relentless despot.
Take my tired body, my confused mind, and my restless soul into your arms and give me rest, simple quiet rest. Do I ask too much too soon? I should not worry about that. You will let me know. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Amen
Thanks!
Jason
Do you have this problem on a daily basis? This problem where you can’t fully sit and be in God’s presence? Remember to just sit and be with God for a while, and allow his peace to come into your life. I want to leave you with the quote that I mentioned earlier in this spiritual journey.
A Prayer by Henri Nouwen
Why, O Lord, is it so hard for me to keep my heart directed toward you? Why do the many little things I want to do, and the many people I know, keep crowding into my mind, even during the hours I am totally free to be with you and you alone? Why does my mind wander off in so many directions, and why does my heart desire the things that lead me astray? Are you not enough for me? Do I keep doubting your love and care, your mercy and grace? Do I keep wondering, in the center of my being, whether you will give me all I need if I just keep my eyes on you?
Please accept my distractions, my fatigue, my irritation, and my faithless wanderings. You know me more deeply and fully than I know myself. You love me with a greater love than I can love myself. You even offer me more than I can desire. Look at me, see me in all my misery and inner confusion, and let me sense your presence in the midst of my turmoil. All I can do is show myself to you. Yet, I am afraid to do so. I am afraid that you will reject me. But I know--with the knowledge of faith--you desire to give me your love. The only thing you ask of me is not to hide from you, not to run away in despair, not to act as if you were a relentless despot.
Take my tired body, my confused mind, and my restless soul into your arms and give me rest, simple quiet rest. Do I ask too much too soon? I should not worry about that. You will let me know. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Amen
Thanks!
Jason
Monday, April 6, 2009
Ordinary human beings ...
“We must not be led to believe that the Disciplines are only for spiritual giants and hence beyond our reach, or only for contemplatives who devote all their time to prayer and meditation. Far from it. God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings: people who have jobs, who care for children, who wash dishes and mow lawns. In fact, the Disciplines are best exercised in the midst of our relationships with our husband or wife, our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors.”
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
This is how Foster introduces his book about the disciplines. So many times in my own life I have wanted someone to come along and help me grow in my faith and give me the tools to help me on this journey. Through many years in college, mission trips, youth rallies, retreats, weekly devotionals, and just wonderful times out in God’s creation, I have been inspired in so many different ways to spend time with God. You may think that since I have been the one writing these devotionals, that this has been an easy task for me. It has been hard. It can be difficult to work through some of these disciplines. We are in such a fast paced society, even in such a small little town like Hollis. We are constantly feeling the pull to go, go, go. God wants us to be, be, be in His presence and let his love, grace, peace, hope, and encouragement flow over us.
There are so many other disciplines we could have looked at, but we just had the time to focus on these few. Just because our class times are done, it doesn’t mean we need to stop working on these disciplines. In fact, we should all feel a challenge to take it a step further by working on these disciplines and helping someone else develop their own. Wherever we are, at the end of this class, my hope is that it is closer to God than when we began.
When we began, we started out by focusing on Zephaniah 3:17. Do you remember this time together? Do you remember taking the time to be alone and quiet yourself down and recite this over and over again? Let’s look at it one more time.
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17
Our God wants all of this for us. He actually longs for us to quiet down and rest in his arms of love. I know that many of you felt that as we participated in some of these exercises. God is with you and He is daily waiting for you to spend that time with Him. Over the next few days we will be looking back at some of the disciplines we have worked through. I am going to ask a huge favor of you all. Since we will not have another time to get together and discuss our feelings on this experience before I have to turn my final project in, I would like you all to consider at least one devotional or experience that we worked on together and share that with me. You can email it to me directly at theroarks4jesus@aol.com. I will then take your thoughts and use that as one of our devotional thoughts for the following week. That way we can all take a part in closing down this “overflow” of our hearts. “Closing down” is hopefully the wrong way to say this, because one of the goals of this project is to allow this experience to overflow into the lives of those around us. Are you experiencing any overflow?
Thanks!
Jason
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
This is how Foster introduces his book about the disciplines. So many times in my own life I have wanted someone to come along and help me grow in my faith and give me the tools to help me on this journey. Through many years in college, mission trips, youth rallies, retreats, weekly devotionals, and just wonderful times out in God’s creation, I have been inspired in so many different ways to spend time with God. You may think that since I have been the one writing these devotionals, that this has been an easy task for me. It has been hard. It can be difficult to work through some of these disciplines. We are in such a fast paced society, even in such a small little town like Hollis. We are constantly feeling the pull to go, go, go. God wants us to be, be, be in His presence and let his love, grace, peace, hope, and encouragement flow over us.
There are so many other disciplines we could have looked at, but we just had the time to focus on these few. Just because our class times are done, it doesn’t mean we need to stop working on these disciplines. In fact, we should all feel a challenge to take it a step further by working on these disciplines and helping someone else develop their own. Wherever we are, at the end of this class, my hope is that it is closer to God than when we began.
When we began, we started out by focusing on Zephaniah 3:17. Do you remember this time together? Do you remember taking the time to be alone and quiet yourself down and recite this over and over again? Let’s look at it one more time.
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17
Our God wants all of this for us. He actually longs for us to quiet down and rest in his arms of love. I know that many of you felt that as we participated in some of these exercises. God is with you and He is daily waiting for you to spend that time with Him. Over the next few days we will be looking back at some of the disciplines we have worked through. I am going to ask a huge favor of you all. Since we will not have another time to get together and discuss our feelings on this experience before I have to turn my final project in, I would like you all to consider at least one devotional or experience that we worked on together and share that with me. You can email it to me directly at theroarks4jesus@aol.com. I will then take your thoughts and use that as one of our devotional thoughts for the following week. That way we can all take a part in closing down this “overflow” of our hearts. “Closing down” is hopefully the wrong way to say this, because one of the goals of this project is to allow this experience to overflow into the lives of those around us. Are you experiencing any overflow?
Thanks!
Jason
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Undivided ...
Hear the word of God:
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:11-12
Undivided! Closeness with God involves moving other things out of the way so we can fully see God. Simplicity is like fasting from the things in your life. Simplifying involves emptying self so we can become hungry for the things that should be the really important things. Getting rid of the distractions allows us to refocus. This is how we remain in the world but not of it.
Undivided! Are you? What if I challenged you to simplify? What is dividing your attention? Between today and Thursday, I would like to ask you to take just one distraction out of your life. What would you choose? We’ll see if anything has happened in your spiritual walk. God bless us all as we try.
Jason
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:11-12
Undivided! Closeness with God involves moving other things out of the way so we can fully see God. Simplicity is like fasting from the things in your life. Simplifying involves emptying self so we can become hungry for the things that should be the really important things. Getting rid of the distractions allows us to refocus. This is how we remain in the world but not of it.
Undivided! Are you? What if I challenged you to simplify? What is dividing your attention? Between today and Thursday, I would like to ask you to take just one distraction out of your life. What would you choose? We’ll see if anything has happened in your spiritual walk. God bless us all as we try.
Jason
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